Springfield recycling rates continue to climb under single-stream program

File photo by Mark M. Murray / The RepublicanGilles R. Lapointe, a recycling driver with the Solid Waste division for the city of Springfield, gets ready to empty a recycle barrel on Liberty Street as part of the city's single-stream recycling program one day last winter.

SPRINGFIELD – Recycling rates have continued to climb in Springfield under a single-stream recycling program that has won praise from city and state officials and neighborhood activists.

The city collected 7,545 tons of recycling materials in fiscal year 2011, through June 30, achieving a new city record, according to local statistics.

Under single-stream recycling, residents are able to put all their recyclable materials into a single, 95-gallon wheeled barrel rather than separate the items into much smaller bins. The single-stream program began as a pilot program in 2008 and went citywide Dec. 1, 2009.

“Personally, I think it’s the best thing since sliced bread,” said Elizabeth B. Stevens of the McKnight Neighborhood Council. “This is just incredible.”

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The program is designed to increase recycling and to significantly reduce trash disposal, saving the city more than $300,000 a year, city officials said. In fiscal 2011, the annual budget for trash disposal was approximately $8.2 million.

Stevens said she and her husband have always participated in recycling, but the single-stream recycling program makes it much easier and serves as an incentive for doing more.

“It simplifies everything,” Stevens said. “All that separating we were willing to do, we don’t have to anymore. It inspires us to do a better job.”

While recycling has increased over the past five years, from 4,377 tons in fiscal year 2007 to 7,545 tons in fiscal 2011, the amount of trash has declined each year, officials said.

The city collected and disposed of 49,863 tons of trash in fiscal 2007, dropping steadily to a low of 42,207 tons in fiscal 2011, according to city records.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the city undertook a “cutting edge and aggressive recycling program because it was the right thing to do environmentally, and it creates increased savings for Springfield taxpayers.”

Sarno said he appreciates the cooperation of city residents, and he is confident they will continue to support the program.

It cost the city approximately $2 million to purchase and deliver 43,000 recycling barrels in addition to minor repairs to Public Works trucks used to collect the materials.

Clodovaldo Concepcion, Ward 5 city councilor and president of the Sixteen Acres Civic Association, said the residents he speaks to are pleased with the single-stream program.

“People are very happy with it,” Concepcion said. “They think it’s a good idea. It eliminates a lot of waste in their trash. It makes it simpler and more economical.”

Concepcion said he does not believe the large size of the barrel is a problem, as it rolls on wheels. There are times when Concepcion, a senior citizen, skips putting out the barrel until it is full.

The state Department of Environmental Protection has also praised the single-stream recycling program in Springfield, also used in Chicopee.